Tag Archives: Totopotomoy Creek

(part four of five) Earlier this week, Dave Ruth retired as superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield—a national park that preserves stories from Civil War campaigns in both the 1862 and 1864. But as Dave explains today, the park’s layers of … Continue reading →

(part three of five) I’ve been talking with Dave Ruth, who retired this week as superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield after serving there for 26 years. During yesterday’s segment of my conversation with Dave, we talked about the important preservation … Continue reading →

On May 30, 1864, Philip Sheridan’s Union cavalry tangled with Confederate horsemen in the vicinity of Old Church northeast of Richmond. After the Battle of Haw’s Shop, Sheridan had been sent to Old Church to secure the roads leading to … Continue reading →

At 4:30 a.m. on the morning of June 3, 1864, the II, VI and XVIII Corps commenced their assault on the Confederate line at Cold Harbor. One New Yorker recalled “as soon as the skirmishers were engaged, our artillery opened … Continue reading →

The first time I visit the Totopotomoy Creek Battlefield at Rural Plains, it’s an unseasonably mild day in late winter. I’m taking pictures for the upcoming Emerging Civil War Series book No Turning Back, so I can’t stay long because … Continue reading →

Excerpted from Hurricane from the Heavens by Daniel T. Davis and Phillip S. Greenwalt: Grant later wrote, “The streams were numerous…with impenetrable growth of trees and underbrush” as his army crossed the Pamunkey onto the Tidewater Peninsula of Virginia. The … Continue reading →

On May 28, 1864, as the Army of the Potomac crossed the Pamunkey River, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan commanding the Cavalry Corps was given the assignment to protect the Yankee bridgehead and to report back on any Confederate movements. With … Continue reading →

I wrapped up work this week on the latest title in the Emerging Civil War book series and got it shipped off to the printer. No Turning Back: A Guide to the 1864 Overland Campaign by Robert “Bert” Dunkerly, Don Pfanz, … Continue reading →

The fight at Totopotomoy Creek in late May of 1864 marks the “boundary” in the Overland Campaign between the North Anna phase of the campaign and the Cold Harbor phase. During the three-day engagement, Federals lost just over one thousand … Continue reading →